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A. I. BLANGHARD. PAPER CUTTER.

(N0 Modell) No. 442,414. Patented Dec. 9,1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN I. BLANCHARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF T'WO-THIRDS TO EDIVARD L. LOMAX, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA, AND BENJAMIN B. ANDER- SON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PAPER-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,414., dated December 9, 1890.

Serial No. 347,018- (No model.)

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN I. BLANCHARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Paper-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to construct a knife-edge cutter provided with a project- [0 ing point for the purpose of tearing or separating railroad-tickets or other similar articles, as hereinafter described; and the invention consists in the features and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improvement; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3,

a plan view of a portion of a ticket after being separated.

A is the ruler; o, a projecting point on the edge thereof; B, the supporting-block; C C, notches in the ends of the cutter, and D D screws whereby the cutter is connected to the block.

The cutter A is made of a thin piece of steel or other suitable material, is provided with a straight-edge, and at a point at or near its center hasa projection or point a, as shown. The cutter is preferably beveled to a sharp edge in order that it may act as a knife in tearing the paper or card. In the ends of the cutter I preferably form slots C C, as shown. The ruler is slightly bent, so as to rest upon its support at its ends and spring up therefrom at the center, in order to allow a piece of paper to be readily slipped underneath. After this is done the cutter may be pressed down and will hold the paper firmly while 0 being torn. The cutter is secured to its support by screws or other suitable means passing through the slots, as shown, and the object of these slots is to allow the ends to move slightly the cutter is pressed down or springs up again when the pressure is removed.

I have shown the cutter as attached to a simple block of wood; but it may of course be attached to any other place where it is de sired to use it.

It operates as follows, and it should be understood that while in the drawings I have shown merely a portion of one form of railroad-ticket the device may be used with any other form or in any other place where it is desired to retain the result hereinafter described: The ticket shown is provided with two columns of stations, the names opposite each other in these columns being the same. The ticket is then slid under the cutter with the point opposite any desired station until the straight-edge of the cutter comes close to the right-hand column of names. The cutter is then pressed down, and the paper being raised and pulled across the knife-edge 6 5 will be torn or cut, as shown in Fig. 3, a notch being formed opposite the name of the desired station in one half of the ticketand a corresponding projection opposite the name ticket.

By means of this device the tickets may be readily and easily severed in such a way as to provide two parts slightly different from each other but fitting together, one of these 7 parts being retained by the passenger and the other by the agent, thus forming a perfect check.

Although I have spoken of this device as a paper-cutter and claimed it as such, it will So of course be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to its use as a paper-cutter solely, since it may be used to cut or tear paper, card-board, or any other similar material. It will also be understood that although 8 5 I prefer to make the base or supporting-block in the form shown I also contemplate using the cutter or knife on any suitable support as, for instance, on a desk, table, or other smooth surfaceand it is in this sense that 0 in the claim I use the word base.

I claim- A cutter for paper or other similar materials, comprising abase Band a knife A restof the same station on the other half of the 7d ing on the base, the knife having its fiat side terial cut or torn by drawing it back over adjacent to the base, its ends in contact thereagainst the edge and point of the knife, subwith yieldingly attached thereto, and its censtantially as described tral portion slightly elevated therefrom, and

5 having a triangular projection a in its mid- ALLEN I. BLANCHARD.

die portion, whereby the material to be cut \Vitnesses: may be inserted between the knife and base, THOMAS A. BANNING,

the knife pressed down ihereon, and the ma- SAMUEL E. I-IIBBEN. 

